Records
l (ID i "1F VARIOUS ARTISTS
Def Jam 1985-2001: The History Of Hip Hop, Volume 1
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If any label can claim to make a (latch; of hip hop through their own releazie-‘i then other than lornmy Boy, Def Jam can do it. This short ((ZlXi(;(:ll track) collection k.cks cit With the bOys (and in those days it was really only boys) who broke the music on a global scale. 1 l Cool J, Public lileiny and most infamoust the Beastie Boys tcok hip hop to the world and some may sound dated but still rock like they did fifteen years ago.
With Ja Rule, DMX and Jay-7 holding up the contemporary end and Slick Rick. Oran 'Juice' Jones and Warren G highlighting the diversity in Russell Simmons' signings. this is a compulsory purchase for any real hip hop fan. (Mark Robertson)
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A Testament to House Music (Stanton) 0...
It all feels a bit Michael Jackson. Wacko. faced With releasing a mediocre album instead shacklr-zd it to his greatest hits. called it History and watched the cash roll in. Jefferson's is an album of two halves — disc one features a
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selection of classic house cuts (including his own ja/xtastic ‘Move Your Body'i. .vhile disc two is a collection of more recent material. The old skool stuff from the likes of Mr Fingers and Farley Jackmaster Funk hold up as well as you'd expect. and the more recent tracks ain't half bad either.
All in all. it positively oozes With the funk — something Jackson sadly lost a long time ago. (James Smartl
ELECTRONIC SLAM
Alien Radio (Somal CO...
Bearing no stand out tracks because it all rocks. Slam's triumphant second album instantly betrays its roots in early Chicago house and Detroit techno while epitomlsing a distinct Glasgow sOund that's dark and menacrng to the point of being intimidating.
'Positive Education' is there for the last three people in Scotland who haven't bought it yet. ‘Lifetimes' featuring Tyrone Palmer screams end of night classic with its brooding intensity. and the title tune ‘Alien
Barrio sums up the pure eyl of Slams electron c urgency. Finick, types wrl' argue ‘hat the ‘.ersion of ‘Narco Tourists isn't as good as the UNKLE collabOration but really. it doesn't get much better than this. (Catherir‘r; Brornleyi
ELECTHCMC SCUBA 2
The Vanishing American Family (Oddi OOOO
.10.: ‘ One minute fifty five seconds into track eight of this Edinburgh based duo's debut record a woman starts shrieking ‘lt's my house” again and again over a backing that owes a fair bit to house. but rather mere to a particularly berserk variant of gabba. It's an amazrng. warped epiphany — and the rest of the album is pretty darn good too. This is big beat. but big beat as it should be. devastatingly groovy and as eclectic as fuck. 'The Vanishing American Family' is marred by the odd muSical cul-de-sac and some low rent Sean Ryder rapping. but this is an exhilarating ride With more peaks than troughs. (James Smart)
ELECTRONIC VARIOUS ARTISTS
Groove Anthology: Kaleidoscopic Beats (Indigo) 0..
This is a laid back (Ourney through ambient
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Scotland’s only underground radio station - bringing you the best of the Scottish music scene Broadcast live via the internet providing 24hrs of attractive listening
1 14 THE LIST 7-21 Jun 2001
Singles
Parental Guidance stickers are a sinister idea Symptomatic of the nanny state's encroachment into Our personal lives. But listening to tracks like 'Best Friends' ilsland O l. by allSTARS (the heroes of ClTV's STABStreetl might make you think that they're Just stickering the wrong things. Their sickening cross- marketed pap is rivalled in eVilness by Colorzoo. a production duo fronted by a Steps reiect. who waffle through 'Make You Smile” (Funky lnc
O ). a sickly overproduced Ferrero Pocher of a single.
No such sugary delights from meat— and-potato merchants Stereophonics. whose ‘Have A Nice Day' NZ 0 l may or may not be a trenchant critique of meaningless pleasantries, but is almost certainly the worst record they've produced. Almost as predictable is the trad indie rock of the hugely inappropriately named Experimental Pop Band. who manage to be about as experimental as Billy Joel on the chugging 'Hard Enough' (City Slang O. i.
Ploughing a different furrow through the rolling fields of indie. Valve's 'staticn EP' (Pleasure 00 ) is a reasonable enough collection of Coldplay—esgiie ballads. There's some equally sincere strumming from Thirteen:13. whose “Truth Hurts' (Polydor I... l. is really rather good. resigned Without being soporific and plaintive without resorting to whining. The same is not true of hotly tipped indie-pop bod Matthew Jay. Whose ‘Don't Send Me Away' (Food .0. ) starts and ends brilliantly. but sadly has enough mince in the middle to make Meatloaf cringe.
A little more understated, despite their twee name. are Pupkin. who sound contentedly depressed in the way that only peeple deprived of natural light for long parts of the year can. Pupkin are from Glasgow and their 'Morning Light EP' (Electric Honey COO. ) sounds decidedly promrsrng. Alien Ant Farm are the first signing to Papa Roach's new label, and Moves (New Neize 00. i is typical growly nu-metal bollocks. Most engaging of all are Cooper Temple Clause. Whose 'Warfare EP’ (Morning 0... ) features a man With intimacy issues shouting 'Panzer Attack' again and again over a bass-driven bed of radioactive rock. Music keeps these people off the streets. you know.
Faithless used to be a bit mad (remember the stuff abetit ‘tearing off tights With my teeth'?) but With ‘We Come 1'(Cheeky COO ) they've gone back to producing catchy robe-trance. Which may or may not be a good career move.
No moves whatsoever from Argyll-based Wild Biscuit. whose ‘Wild Thyme' (Wild Biscuit O ) is a piece of diabolical sub-Corrs folk-pop toss. Thank god. then. for 80's flavoured kitsch trance. Trisco‘s 'Musak' (Positiva 0000 i should make po-faced trendsetters everywhere ditch their shell trainers and do the Bartman. Also cocking a leg in the face of fashion is the inaugural five-track EP from new Scottish indie label Trepanner Headmusic. ‘Bloodbrainmusic Vol. 1 ' (Trepanner Headmusic COO. ) parades a quintet of sensational acts offering
Pupkin show promise
.(James Smart)
garage rock. proto-prog. Black Sabbath/MCS-esque fury and much more beSides. Moniack. Bangtwister and Greathead Briggs are among the gems on display on this 10"; seek it out and make your empty life whole again.
drum & bass. hip hop grooves and dubbed out indie all smoothly blended by German DJ Klaus Fiehe. The opening section is a bit boring: ambient has been done to death
even if it is by DJ Food with a drum & bass flavour
Where it lifts itself up is when it makes a gradual transition into chilled hip hop from the Nextmen and Doc Brown among others. then glides into the mellowest of indie cuts from the likes of Flying Saucer Attack and Passpon. A dull beginning mars an otherwise excellent chill out album. (Henry Northmore)
FOLK/ROCK
JIMI THE PIPER Earthdance (Offbeat) 0...
Jimi McPae aka Jimi the Piper has shifted up a gear from the traditional bagprpe themes and scunds of his debut album Pipedreams. taking an evolutionary leap with Earthdance. Although the stories inspiring the tunes remain local. Earthdance has a world music feel mixed With full on funk rock attitude. Tartan